Polybius
saidundated
In all human affairs, and especially in those that relate to war, ...leave always some room to fortune, and to accidents which cannot be foreseen.
— The General History, Book II, Ch. 4 (trans. by Hampton)
Polybius
Ancient Greek historian
- Fame64.7
- Momentum0.0
- Writers rank#71
Source-basedFalling
- Fame64.7
- Momentum0.0
- Writers rank#71
- Wikipedia22.3K
Lived -200–-120, aged 80
WritersWriter / Author
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08
Greek historian whose front-row seat to Rome's conquest of the Mediterranean produced the only surviving chronicle of that pivot — and whose notes on checks, balances, and mixed government landed centuries later in the hands of Montesquieu, Locke, and the men writing the American Constitution.
Biography
About
Polybius lived through the middle Hellenistic period, roughly 200 to 118 BC, and set out to write a universal history explaining how Rome came to dominate the Mediterranean world. His Histories covered 264 to 146 BC in granular detail — Italy, Iberia, Greece, Macedonia, Syria, Egypt, Africa — documenting the Punic Wars, the Macedonian Wars, and the mechanics of imperial expansion. What survived is the only substantial Hellenistic historical work we have, but it carried more than narrative: Polybius analyzed constitutional evolution, articulated the theory of mixed government, and described sep…
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In their own words
Sourced, dated quotes from Polybius
Polybius
saidundated
This is a sworn treaty made between us, Hannibal … and Xenophanes the Athenian … in the presence of all the gods who possess Macedonia and the rest of Greece.
— Histories, VII, 9:4 (Loeb, W.R. Paton)
Polybius
saidundated
How highly should we honor the Macedonians, who for the greater part of their lives never cease from fighting with the barbarians for the sake of the security of Greece?
— Histories, IX, 35:2 (Loeb)
Polybius
saidundated
There is no witness so dreadful, no accuser so terrible as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.
— Histories, XVIII, 43 (Bartlett's Familiar Quotations)
Polybius
saidundated
For what gives my work its peculiar quality, and what is most remarkable in the present age, is this.
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Score breakdown
The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Falling64.7
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical24.8
Now attention12.8
Source confidence60.0
Completeness60.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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